Prosecutors Hit for Crass Handling of Rape Victims
By Park Si-soo
Staff Reporter
The largest lawyers' association in Korea has launched an ad-hoc committee to inspect whether the prosecution's questioning methods of a victim of sexual assault needs to be improved in terms of human rights protection. The association will file a suit against the authorities if it finds any critical ``mistakes'' made by prosecutors.
The move came at the request of the parents of a nine-year-old girl, known by the pseudonym Na-young, who assaulted and raped in December last year by 57-year-old Cho Doo-soon. Na-young's parents claim that the prosecutors mishandled their questioning of the child, contributing to her mental anguish.
Cho, in a maximum-security prison in North Gyeongsang Province, claimed he committed the crime under the influence of alcohol, which played a key factor in the court's ``lenient'' sentence of 12 years behind bars.
The victim's parents, backed by supportive media reports, has lashed out at the prosecution for forcing their daughter to testify about what happened to her in detail as many as five times, citing its repeated failure to record her testimonies. Prosecutor-General Kim Joon-gyu has apologized to the family.
Lawyer Lee Myung-sook, spokesman for the Korean Bar Association, said Tuesday the inspection will cover more than 10 relevant state institutes, including the prosecution, police and the Ministry of Justice.
``This is to highlight the prosecution's carelessness in protecting the human rights of victims of sexual crimes during investigations and bring the problematic practice within law enforcement back on the right track,'' Lee said in a statement.
He said the repeated testimonies could cause additional damage to the child.
Shin Eui-jin, a psychiatrist now in charge of treating the nine-year-old victim, said she was infuriated after learning what the prosecution forced her to do.
``It was an insane act,'' Shin was quoted as saying in an interview with a Korean-language newspaper. ``Prosecutors should have sought doctors' approval before starting questioning.''
Shin said medical staff also cannot be immune from liability.
The tragic incident motivated legislators to make bipartisan efforts to establish tougher punishment for such criminals.
In a conference held Tuesday, Rep. Ahn Sang-soo, floor leader of the ruling Grand National Party, said his party will make all-out efforts to crack down on sexual crimes against minors.
``Crime-prone districts around the country will be monitored round-the-clock by CCTVs,'' Ahn said. The lawmaker also pledged to remove the statute of limitations on rape cases, which is currently set at 25 years.
Opposition parties also support the move. Earlier this month, a group of lawmakers of the main opposition Democratic Party (DP) proposed a bill to toughen the punishment of rapists.
If the bill is endorsed, courts will not be allowed to reduce the punishment of sex offenders because they were drunk at the time of the crime and thus ``unable'' to make sound judgment.